Iraq, Mosul, 16 November 2022 – The newly rehabilitated Ibn al-Atheer Hospital was officially inaugurated by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Federal Republic of Germany, the Ministry of Health and the Ninewa Governorate. As the only pediatric hospital in Mosul, Ibn al-Atheer will provide medical services to approximately 50,000 children annually.

Built in the late sixties, the hospital provided medical services to Mosul and surrounding areas in Ninewa, servicing a catchment population of over 500,000 children. However, the hospital was left significantly damaged during the ISIL conflict. As a result, only 135 of its original 261 beds, about 50 percent of its designed capacity, could be used. Only the most critical cases could be admitted and treated, since the hospital functioned with great difficulty due to the scale of destruction.

Through the Funding Facility for Stabilization, UNDP rehabilitated the entire building, including civil, sanitary, mechanical, and electrical works. Today, the hospital is operated and managed by the Ninewa Directorate of Health with over 400 medical and 200 administrative staff. In addition to providing improved health care services for children, the hospital will help retain hundreds of highly skilled medical personnel in Mosul.